Sign controller



S IGN CONTROLLER Filed Feb. 1o, 1927 u y o 14 C/ if 1o 11 zg...]

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' l i u INVENToR. 8 v La ,t c/m Zrgd ` ATTORNEY.

Patented sept. 18, 192s.

``UNITED STATES .PATENT ortica.4

MAX Hansis, oF BUCHSCHLAG, GERMANY.

SIGN CONTROLLER.

"Application led February l10, 1927, Serial ,o 167,187, and in Germany December 24, 1925.

The boards for luminous advertising by means of changing written texts must comprise a' great number of lamps, in order to satisfy the ever increasing requirements with regard to fine and many sided reproductions. The advertisers demand, that on the lamp boards written characters, trade marks and other pictures appear in perfect accuracy and legibility, a condition, which can be fulfilled lonly by an extraordinary incrcaseof the numbefr of lamps and by corresponding increase of the contacts in the Contact apparatus. The manufacturers of such apparatus and the landlords ask, on the other h and, that the contact apparatus be of compact foim,'as it is often impossible, to accommodate largesize apparatus in the garrets which are sometimes low and narrow.

Other Condit-ions are, that the contact apparatus be easilyzaccessible, thatthe texts be interchangeable during the service, that the succession of the texts be easy to survey, and that the conta-ct apparatus be adapted'to'produce several kinds of luminous writing, i. e., that one contact plate be capa-ble to bringl one text, i. e. suddenly and completely, the next stance, one part of the text in stationary writing and another part of the saine in intermittentwriting, the next following text plate having to bring,l for instance, a text in italics which is gradually lighted in the same manner as the text is being Written. All such variations of the writing could hitherto not be carried out in one and the same apparatus, i as each contact apparatus was capable of producing only one kind of writing.

This invention relates to a small size contact apparatus for switching the text which" must be instantaneously legible and adapted to be easily interchanged during the service, the writing being of any desired kind, either hand-writing or suddenly lighted writing, or intermittently lighted wi'iting or writings of A mixed kinds.

An embodiment of the invention is shown, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings, in whichA Fig. 1 shows in side elevation the total arrangement vof the contact apparatus for luminous changing writing.

Fig. 2 shows in cross section a metal plate designed to receive the Contact pins.

Fig. 3 shows in top plan view and on metal plates 1 (te'xt plates) are used, the perfoiations of which correspond accurately to the perforations in a contact receiving element 2. These corresponding per'forations correspond again accurately to the lamps 3 arranged on the lamp board. Contact pins are to -be inserted into the holes of the metal contact platesV 1, said contact pins` serving to form the 'desired text or the desired writing. 'lhe Contact pinsco-nsist each of a split shaft 5 tightly tting into theholes 6 of the metal plates '1 (Fig. 2) and held in the corresponding holes 6 by friction on the Wall of said liolesneach contact pin having a head 4, either spherical or flat, and forming the Contact element proper. The head 4 or a portion of the same is made from tungsten, platinum-or a similar, not easily fusible metal. following text plate having to bringe-for. in-

laterally.directedjenlargement 8 at` the inner end. Rings 9 are designed to be inserted into said slots so that a number of plates 1 are connected to form a large endless chain.

This arrangement presents the advantage that the metal plates 1 can be" easily interchanged during the service. With this obi ject in view the metal plates l are pressed the one against the other, as shown in Fig. 4, so that the ring 9 comes out of engage-ment with the enlarged portions 8 and, engaging with the slots 7 can be easily removed. The metal plates 1 are guided over two drums 10 and 11, for instance of'octagonal cross section. These drums are rotatably mounted. A pressure plate 15 is arranged between the two drums underneath the metal plate 1 which is in the position of use and designated by reference numeral 12, said pressure plate v `15 resting upon the two parallel levers 13.

lthe same, -in order to lower and raise the plate 15. By means of a pull spring 17 the pressure plate 15 and with the same the metal lim plate 12 is pressed onto the contact receiving l 21 adapted toengage with one of said notches 18. When the levers 13 are depressed byA hand or by motor, they strike against a roller 22 at the end of said lever 20 and depress this lever of a distance equal to 1/8 of a rotation of drum 11, this drum being thus rotated by the pawl 21 through 1/8 of a complete rotation, so that a fresh metalplate 1 is brought over the pressure plate 15. After termination of 1/8 of the rotation the drumv` 11 is locked by a locking pawl 23 whereby the drum 11 and consequently the contact plate 1 are roughly adjusted. The lever 13 is then raised and the -lever 2O isalso pulled upward through the pull exerted by a spring 24. The fresh contact plate 12 is then pressed in upward direction and the current is switched in at switch 25.

When a fresh text plate 12 has to be inserted, the circuit is first interupted by the beginning downward movement of lever 13 from theswitching-in position a to the cutting-out vposition b. In the position c the lifting off of the text plate 12 from the contact receiving pins 26 is terminated, and in the position cl a cam 14 rigid with the lever 13 begins to act upon the pawl lever 23 or upon the auxiliary lever 27 of this pawl lever. The pawl lever 23 is disengaged by the further downward movement of the cam 14, this movement being terminated when the lever 13 is in the position e. The drum 11 is then again ready for a fresh part rot-ation. This part rotation begins when the lever 13 is in the position e, i. e. at the moment at which the lever 13 touches the lever 20 or the roller 22 ofthe same, and takes the lever along to the extreme position 28 indicated in dash lines. y

The contact plates 1, when united to form an endless chain, have a slight play and they are brought, by special precise adjusting, accurately into that position which the several contact pins 4 must occupy in order to come into proper contact with the contact receiving pins 26. This precise adjusting is .obtained with the aid of a hole 29 at each end of the plate 1 said holes 29 being bored according to stencils. The pressure plate 15 carries at each end a cone-shaped pin 30 which accurately fits into the holes 29 of the plate 1. The precise-adjusting pins 30 and .the holes 29 are conical, as shown in Fig. 5. At

, the feeding the pin 30 engages first only approximately with the corresponding hole 29 `the contact plate 15 is lifted and pressed, to-

of the text plate.' Above the text platevl a spring '311 is arranged (Fig. 5,) which exerts a pressure in downward direction upon the plate 1 so that 'the' pin 30 engages completely with the hole 29 and the plate 1 is perfect- 70 l1y pressed upon the p-ressure plate 15. The

axis of the hole 29 and the axis vof the cor' responding pin 30 coincide in this position. Only after the termination of this proceeding gether with the accurately adjusted text plate l2, onto the contact receiving element 2 with the Contact pins 26. The apparatus works in the following manner e .Under the action of the spring 17 the pressure plate 15 and lwith the same the text plate 1, which is in the op'erative'position and designated by the reference numerall2, is pressed against the lcontact receiving element 2 and the contact pins 26, the switch 25 being switchedin,. so that the lampsvare. lighted which represent the text inquestion. WVhen a fresh text plate has to be inserted, the lever 13 is to be depressed. lVhen this lever 13 is moving from position a into position b, the circuit is interrupted inthe switch 25. When the lever 13 is moving from position b to position 0 the text plate 12-is withdrawnfrom the contact recelving pins 26, this movement being terminated when the lever 13 arrives in the position c. When the lever 13 is moving from position c to position el the pin 30for precise adjusting is withdrawn from the hole in the text plate 12, and when the lever 13 arrives at the position d the inclined surface of cam 14 begins to act upon the pawl 27. The disengaging of pawl 23 is terminated when,the lever 13 arrives in the position f. The drum 114is then liberated for a further part rotation.- When the lever 13 arrives in the position f it abut-s against the lever 20 which is drawn along by the lever 13 which continues to descend, and the drulnll is rotated through 1/8 110v of a complete rotation by the spring-controlled pawl 2 1. The pawl 23 disengages4 from thc notch 18 when the drum 11 arrives in the endposition, and the feeding of the chain of metal plates 1 is terminated. The 115l levers 13 and 2O are returned-into the initial positions by the pull springs 17 and 24, and the accurate-adjusting pin 30 begins to act.

lThe fresh text plate 12 is then pressed onto the contact receiving pins 26, whereupon the 120 upward, the corresponding pins 4 will vbe pressed onto the pins 26 from below upward. 130

I When,

for instance the lighting-up of the writing on the lamp board has to proceed from left to right, the pins 4 are raised in the desired succession owing to the accordingly inclined position of the pressure plate 15.

Contact pins 4 having heads oftwo different lengths may be used. The contact ins 4 having a longer head come first into. touch with the contact ins 26, so that one portion of the writing 1s lighted up sooner than the other portion. The second portion of the writing can be made to disappear and to appear at will during the lighting up of the first portion of the writing, owingto a slight descending movement of the lever 13. In

A order to enable these proceedings the switch must be yieldable.

1. In an apparatus of the kind described, the combination with two rotatable drums of polygonal cross-section, of an endless chain composed of single elements hingedly connected together allowing for play between l said elements, said elements being adapted to pass successively oversaid drums and provided with holes arranged in certain se# quences, contact pins frictionally held in said holes, pivoted members, a plate carried by said members intermediate said drums, a system'of lamp contacts disposed'opposite said plate, a switch, means acting on said pivoted members to normally close said switch and move said plate toward said lamp contacts, and means adapted to be operated by said pivoted members to impart to one of said drums. a partial rotation at any desired time intervals, the arrangement being such that upon the initial movement of said pivoted members to rotate one of said drums, said switch is opened, and said plate is withdrawn from said lamp contacts, so as to release the element supported by said plate.

2. The combinationA as specified in claim 1, in which said elements are provided at both ends with open slot-.s enlarged at theirinner ends, including loops adapted to be inserted into the slots of two adjacent elements, so asA MAX HAASE. 

